DINOSAUR ROAR

DINOSAUR ROAR

The book we were working with last term was called ‘Dinosaur Roar’ by Paul and Henrietta Stickland.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This is a ‘rote’ learning piece, where the child learns to play it by copying and memory.

I created a simple PDF to help with visual memory, which you can download by clicking on the book image to the left.

Rote learning pieces help children to:

develop musical understanding

recognise and learn patterns

develop memory skills by remember patterns and their order

listen to their playing, how their piece sounds

play musically and fluently

remain motivated and engaged in playing the piano

increase concentration

evoke creativity

develop technique

actually help children develop music reading skills (!)

Reading music for young people involves so many skills. They are usually so focussed on recognising and playing the correct notes that listening skills and musicality are hindered. It is not that learning to read music is not important, it is simply that other skills, such as LISTENING and PLAYING MUSICALLY also need developing.

For more information, you might like to check out Dr. Julie Knerr and Katherine Fisher’s article over here.

PURCHASE

I purchased the rhyming picture book from Kmart for $10, and created a simple tune out of it. You can try purchasing it here if you’d like a copy for home.

PRINT

Click on the picture to the left to download a copy of the PRINT version, in case your child has lost their copy.

WHAT WE DID

You’ll see some of the ways we used the book as we play the song on the video below.

This is a piece for BOTH hands using groups of THREE black notes.

There are TWO simple patterns to remember- one goes DOWN, the other goes UP.

These patterns alternate with each page turn.

You can add DYNAMICS (loud, soft, fast, slow) with the pages of the book.